Appeal dismissed for male nurse who raped female co-worker on Chilliwack high school bleachers
Ruppreet Singh Pawar tried a cultural defence for rape, dragged his case out and lied about needing a translator
July 27, 2026
*Warning: This story deals with sexual assault and could be disturbing to some readers.
B.C.'s highest court has dismissed an appeal by the male psychiatric nurse convicted of raping a female co-worker on the bleachers at Chilliwack Secondary School in 2018.
Ruppreet Singh Pawar, 46, was finally convicted in 2023 of sexual assault after years of intentionally delaying court proceedings by firing multiple lawyers, faking language barriers, even arguing that as an immigrant to Canada from India, he didn’t understand rape wasn’t OK.
Pawar’s appeal, however, was focused on details of the judge’s decision, a judge he claimed showed a misunderstanding of certain witness statements, and ignored the importance of a lost surveillance video. The surveillance video in question was from Chilliwack Secondary School. The video was seen by an officer and another witness, but it was not preserved and later disappeared.
Another area of appeal involved a conversation Pawar had with co-workers after the rape allegation that Crown argued showed consciousness of guilt, essentially that he lied to them. The argument Pawar’s lawyer made was that even an out-of-court denial by an accused could raise reasonable doubt.
At the Appeal Court hearing held Feb. 7, 2026, Crown’s position was that the judge did not materially misapprehend the evidence, and at most there were minor factual errors. Any mistakes were not central to the conviction. In appellate law language, even if errors occurred, they did not meet the threshold of “material misapprehension of evidence.”
In its decision released last Tuesday (July 21, 2026), the Court of Appeal for B.C. found that Pawar’s lawyer had only suggested that there could be a different interpretation of the evidence, which does not amount to a misapprehension.
“Her decision not to stay the proceedings should also not be disturbed,” the Honourable Justice Edelmann wrote in a summary of the decision on behalf of the three-Justice panel. “The trial judge attributed the failure to preserve the video to the inexperience and inadvertence of a very junior investigator, and not to the deliberate destruction of evidence to defeat disclosure obligations. The trial judge’s decision not to stay the proceedings was discretionary and is owed considerable deference by this Court.”
Pawar was originally found guilty by Judge Andrea Ormiston on June 29, 2023. A sentencing hearing was held in November at which victim-impact statements were read that said the incident caused “deep and long-standing suffering, the physical and psychological impact” that was “profound and life-changing” in its scope.
“The cumulative impact was nothing short of devastating.”
The victim, who can’t be named, died after Pawar was found guilty but before he was sentenced in November 2023.
At that sentencing hearing, Judge Ormiston made a point to reject Pawar’s claim that he was “disadvantaged in his understanding of the laws of consent in Canada” as an immigrant.
In other words, he didn’t understand it was illegal to rape a woman who voluntarily came to meet him.
“Mr. Pawar has spent most of his adult life in Canada. He has been educated and employed in this country, working in a hands-on, caring profession with the public,” she wrote in her decision.
“It’s incumbent on this court to distance itself from counsel’s suggestion that this sentence should send a strong message to the government to work harder in educating new immigrants.
Want to support independent journalism?
Consider a one-time donation or subscribe for less than $1 a week so I can continue this work.
“I agree there is a need to send a strong message that women cannot be objectified, humiliated and injured, but that message is to be sent to Mr. Pawar, and to any other person who would contemplate committing this kind of offence.”
“When I consider Mr. Pawar’s moral blameworthiness for this offence. I find that it is enormously high.”
Judge Ormiston sentenced him to 3.5 years in prison. His lawyer asked that he not be taken into custody that day in November 2023 pending an appeal, but that was rejected. That means he has spent two years and eight months since the sentencing in custody, well past the date for his statutory release, which is two thirds of a sentence.
Something Worth Hearing has made a formal request regarding Pawar’s status with Correctional Service Canada but did not hear back before this story was published.
-30-
Want to support independent journalism?
Consider becoming a paid subscriber or make a one-time donation so I can continue this work.
Paul J. Henderson
pauljhenderson@gmail.com
facebook.com/PaulJHendersonJournalist
instagram.com/wordsarehard_pjh
x.com/PeeJayAitch
wordsarehard-pjh.bsky.social